


a mirror (of the worst and best in you)

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: our definition of perfect [4]
Category: Blue Bloods (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, F/M, Gen, Post-Season/Series 09
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 04:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18004013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Jamie and Eddie have been expectant parents for four months when her father is finally released from prison.





	a mirror (of the worst and best in you)

**Author's Note:**

> Title Credit: "Family," Dolly Parton (1991)

Eddie was sixteen weeks into her pregnancy when her father was released from prison. Three days later, Armin called her at work and asked that she come visit him at his New Brunswick apartment. She talked herself into and out of it about four dozen times in the span of twelve hours, driving both herself and Jamie crazy in the process. In the end, though, she decided to just go along with it, albeit begrudgingly. It wasn’t really as if her relationship with the man could get any worse, after all.

She made the colossal mistake of telling her mother about it, and Lena predictably went through the roof. Eddie was relieved they weren’t in the same room at the time, because she was pretty sure her mother would’ve been rather insulted by the sheer number of times her only child rolled her eyes during that brief conversation. It was at moments such as this that she really wondered why Lena hadn’t just agreed to the divorce Armin had offered back when everything started going downhill.

“I swear, Jamie, you would think he controlled the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany both, considering all the badmouthing she did,” Eddie complained to her husband over dinner that evening. “I mean, I get it. He’s not always been the best person. He’s made a lot of mistakes. But he’s still my father, and her husband, and she’s treating him like he’s some sort of – some sort of…”

“Monster?” Jamie supplied, taking another bite of his salmon and eyeing her expectantly.

She gestured to him with her fork. “Exactly! Like he’s some sort of monster.” She angrily stabbed a broccoli stem. “I mean, let’s be honest. It’s not like my mother’s a saint, either. Sure, my father made it impossible for me to trust the average person, but at least he waited ‘til I was out of college to do it. My mother started nice and early. I think she started telling me not to trust boys around the time I developed my first crush.”

“Hm. And when was this, exactly?” Jamie asked amusedly.

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I was about four.” Eddie laughed when Jamie looked up, arching a brow. “Yeah, I know. Pretty ridiculous, huh? You’re lucky I decided not to listen to her somewhere along the way. Otherwise, probably wouldn’t be having this conversation with you right now.”

“I’m a lucky man,” Jamie deadpanned, smirking when she glared playfully at him. “Is this going to cause issues with you and your mother? The two of you were just starting to get back on the same page.”

“My mother and I never stay on the same page for long before we’re backing to being in two separate books,” Eddie sighed, taking a final bite of brown rice and then pushing her plate away. “She’ll get over this, just like she gets over everything that pisses her off about me eventually. We’ll just have to wait her out. She’s like a hurricane in that way.”

“The number of times you’ve referred to your mother as a natural disaster is getting a little concerning, babe,” Jamie informed her as he finished up with his own meal. He carried both plates to the sink and went about the process of rinsing them and loading the dishwasher.

“Yeah, well, you’ve met the woman. Can you really blame me?” Eddie replied with a sigh. “This kid’s so lucky it’s your side of the family he’ll see the most. They can at least _act_ normal every once in a while.” She pressed a hand to her stomach and drew in a deep breath. “I’m going to tell him about the baby.”

“Okay,” Jamie replied easily, simply, his tone suggesting he’d expected nothing less.

“Okay? You’re good with it?” Eddie asked, slightly surprised. “I thought you couldn’t stand my father.”

“I’m not the guy’s biggest fan, especially after all that he put you through after his arrest, but Eddie, he’s still your dad. Of course you’re going to tell him you’re having a baby. It’d be weirder for you not to.” Jamie finished loading the dishwasher and then turned to face her. “Do you want me to come with you? Be your moral support?”

“No,” Eddie assured him, exhaling slowly. “I think this is something I need to do myself, you know?”

“Okay,” Jamie acquiesced. “You change your mind, though, you just tell me, and I’m there with you, all right?”

“Yeah,” Eddie murmured in response, blaming the tears she blinked back on the hormones coursing through her veins. “I know.”

 

-o-o-o-o-

 

Her father lived in a small, tidy, one-bedroom apartment, the kind of place completely opposite to the luxurious house Eddie had called home as a child. She liked it. It felt like less of a lie than everything else she’d seen from him over the years.

Conversation was awkward at first. Eddie hadn’t expected anything less. She and her father had not been at all close following his arrest. When it’d come to taking sides, she’d most definitely taken that of those he’d wronged.

“Your mother, uh, she told me you and Jamie got married,” he stuttered, pouring her a cup of tea and then sliding the saucer across to her. “I’m happy for you. He seemed to really care about you, at least from what I saw.”

“Yeah,” Eddie murmured, taking a sip of the tea and then setting the cup back down. “Almost a year ago now. And he does really care about me. Always has.” She hesitated before speaking again. “We’re going to have a baby next spring. Sometime in May, my doctor says.”

Her father’s eyes widened slightly. “Congratulations. You’re going to make a fantastic mother, Edit. Certainly be better at it than Lena and I were, but you already know that.”

“I know you did your best, Dad,” Eddie sighed, staring down into her mug. “Sometimes it wasn’t good enough, but I did always know it was your best.” She shrugged, glancing up to meet his gaze. “I hated you for blaming me for it all. That wasn’t fair.”

“No,” Armin agreed readily. “It wasn’t. You were just a kid when it started, probably not even five years old. I never should have tried to push the blame onto you.”

“Yeah.” Eddie sighed again. “Mom hates you, you know.”

“Well, she still refuses to divorce me,” Armin pointed out.

“I think that might just be because she hates scandal more.”

Armin chuckled humorlessly at that. “You might have a point there.”

“You’ve got to work on that. Can’t have my kids’ grandparents ready to kill each other every time they’re in the same room.” Eddie smiled sadly when her dad glanced over at her. “I don’t think I’m ever going to trust you again, Dad. You _or_ Mom. But you’re still my parents. And, if my in-laws have taught me anything over the past few years, it’s that that should always mean something.”

“I’m not so sure either of us deserve such an easy second chance,” Armin admitted, glancing away from her.

“Maybe not,” Eddie acquiesced. “But you’re still getting one.”

“Why?” Armin stumbled over the single syllable.

Eddie smiled sadly, tearfully, and gave a half-hearted shrug. “You’re family.”


End file.
